Health Insurance Regional Subscribers' Payments Change This Month... 34% Increase, 33% Decrease

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Starting this month, health insurance premium payments reflecting last year's income and this year's real estate official prices will be made for regional subscribers. Accordingly, 34% of regional subscribers are expected to see an increase in premiums, 33% a decrease, and 33% no change.

The National Health Insurance Service announced on the 16th that from the November premiums, the income attributable to 2020 and the 2021 property tax base will be reflected in the monthly premiums for regional subscriber households.

The income and property used as the basis for the premiums calculated this time are based on the income earned last year and the property tax amount confirmed in June. The income of regional subscribers is reported to the National Tax Service by the end of June the following year, notified to the NHIS in October, and premiums calculated based on this are applied from November. The property held is also confirmed based on ownership as of June 1 each year, with the property tax base amount notified to the NHIS in October, and new premiums imposed from November.

To alleviate the premium burden on subscribers caused by this year's sharp changes in official prices, the NHIS will expand the existing property deduction for regional subscriber premium calculation, which was between 5 million and 12 million KRW, by an additional 5 million KRW starting this month. In the second phase of the premium charging system reform scheduled for July next year, the basic deduction will be expanded to 50 million KRW to further ease the property premium burden. Additionally, dependents who are converted to regional subscribers due to not meeting property requirements will receive a temporary 50% reduction in premiums.

With the reflection of the new income and property data, among the total 7.89 million regional subscriber households, 33.6% (2.65 million households) will see an increase in premiums, 33.1% (2.61 million households) will have no change, and 33.3% (2.63 million households) will see a decrease.

The average premium per household is 105,141 KRW, an increase of 6.87% (6,754 KRW) compared to the October premium of 100,235 KRW. However, the NHIS analyzed that this is "the lowest increase rate in the past three years" and is due to the expansion of property deductions which alleviated the premium increase burden caused by property.

However, since the premiums increased from this month are based on last year's income, if income has decreased due to business suspension or closure, or if property has been sold, preparing documents such as retirement or termination certificates, income certificates, and real estate registry copies and applying for adjustment at the nearest NHIS branch can result in recalculated premiums reflecting the adjusted amounts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.